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Michigan Health Centers assist patients in determining their eligibility for state, federal, or community programs. MPCA, in turn, assists Health Center outreach and enrollment staff through technical assistance. MPCA is happy to provide this Outreach & Enrollment Toolkit to Michigan Health Centers to support efforts to assist consumers in Medicaid, CHIP, and Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment. The toolkit will be updated as new materials become available. Please contact Lydia Starrs if you need any assistance using the tools or templates provided.

Join the Outreach & Enrollment Network

The MPCA Outreach & Enrollment Network is open to Michigan Health Center staff, AmeriCorps members, and/or volunteers with responsibilities in outreach and enrollment. The Network meets bi-weekly via conference call or webinar, provides regular training and continuing education opportunities, and maintains a listserv and online forum for sharing best practices, training announcements, and other information. Email enroll@mpca.net to join!

Resources

To see the full list of resources, click on each section heading below.

The National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative provides cross-disability information and support to Navigators and other enrollment specialists to ensure people with disabilities receive accurate information when selecting and enrolling in insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. The NDNRC online Guide to Disability for Healthcare Insurance Marketplace Navigators covers a variety of topics including, key questions to ask during enrollment, what Navigators need to know about people with disabilities and how Medicaid eligibility is determined for people with disabilities.

LGBT Community

Out2Enroll provides strategies to help enrollment efforts to different subgroups of the LGBT population

The Affordable Care Enrollment (ACE) TA Center has created a short animated video and a fact sheet for assisters who are new to this population

Consumer Education and Health Insurance Literacy Resources

Online Tools and Resources

MIcoverage.org provides information on a range of topics, including instructions for completing the enrollment process in the Health Insurance Marketplace and Medicaid coverage programs, choosing a health plan and primary care provider, and using health coverage to access care

Healthymichiganplan.org has eligibility criteria, application and benefits information, and an explanation of costs for the Healthy Michigan Plan

Use an updated version of a web browser such as Chrome or Firefox. There have been some issues with receiving credit for courses using Internet Explorer.

Prepare your system before accessing MLMS by allowing pop-up windows, using the latest version of Adobe Flash, and turning on JavaScript

Some organizations have security controls or software that can interfere with MLMS. If you are experiencing issues, take your training on a home computer/laptop or a public computer.

The Enterprise Portal times out every 30 minutes. To prevent being logged out, click the Portal window every 28 minutes and look for a pop-up box to save your progress and continue the current session.

Save a screen shot of the last page of training as proof of completion.

If you experience an error or your course doesn't show complete even after you have completed that course, contact the MLMS Help Desk.

COORDINATE: Connect with partners

State Partners: Navigators

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded five Navigator organizations in Michigan to assist consumers with health coverage. MPCA encourages you to contact the Navigator(s) program operating in your community to coordinate efforts at the local level.

State Partners: Certified Application Counselors

Many organizations across the state in addition to Health Centers will function as Certified Application Counselors (CACs). MPCA encourages you to coordinate with other organizations fulfilling this critical role to learn more about their outreach and enrollment plans and join forces on community initiatives. CAC organizations may include:

In addition to the outreach and enrollment resources and best practices available through Enroll America, the organization has launched a national awareness campaign called Get Covered America. Get Covered America has staff based in and focused on Michigan including State Director Erin Knott and Organizing Director Kevin Lane. You can contact the Get Covered America team directly or speak with MPCA staff to learn more about their work in Michigan. View Enroll America's CAC Organization Toolkit for additional CAC resources.

National Awareness Partners: Resources and Support

There are many national organizations that offer support for outreach and enrollment teams ranging from practical best practices for assisters to issue briefs which explain the policy context for coverage systems. MPCA encourages organizations to peruse some of the key partner websites below for more resources.

PLAN: Put thoughts, strategies, and O&E activities on paper

Planning Tools

MPCA's Outreach and Enrollment Playbook contains a substantial number of practical strategies to incorporate in your overall outreach plan including thoughts on helpful enhancements to your organization's operational infrastructure to facilitate reaching and enrolling currently uninsured patients

MPCA has developed sample language to gather patient consent to contact for outreach, enrollment and other purposes. This language can be used in existing patient processes and forms to ensure your Center has appropriate consent to contact patients

MPCA encourages organizations to put in place a service quality tracking tool like a client feedback survey to better understand satisfaction with outreach and enrollment services and illustrate areas staff can improve

United Way’s ALICE report (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) includes county-level information on moderate income families struggling to meet their basic needs

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Data Hub tracks state-level data and allows users to customize and visualize facts and figures on key health and health care topics including coverage, social determinants and more

The Michigan Department of Human Services' Green Book of Program Statistics provides up-to-date enrollment and program utilization information by county for all benefit programs, including Medicaid, across the state

The Michigan Department of Community Health provides health plan enrollment statistics on a monthly basis along with their service area listing and annual quality scores

Michigan Primary Care Association’s (MPCA) federal grant program titled "State and Regional Primary Care Associations” allows MPCA to provide technical assistance and support to Health Centers in Michigan and is 100 percent funded by federal dollars at a current annual level of $1,069,988.00.